Grooming: Edge of Extinction

By RACHEL AYDTMonday, July 16, 2007

Derrick Cruz

The Mammoth Razor, with a handle made of woolly mammoth ivory, from Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons

At New York City's F.S.C. barber, an offshoot of the Freemans Sporting Club men's fashion brand, shaving is fetishized by hipster barbers with gorgeously trimmed beards and retro tattoos. Under lighting from the Depression era, clients sit in 1930s barber chairs to look into handsome wooden mirrors flanked by ornately carved back bars. And the services are as old-school as the surroundings. F.S.C. (freemanssportingclub. com/nyc_barber.htm) offers a range of straight-razor shaves, all using products that reach back to the late 1800s: rosewater astringent, shaving oil from Portugal and heated shaving cream from chrome machines that have long since gone out of production.

But the razors are the most striking part of the process. Made by Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons (Purveyors of Dark and Uncommon Goods) in New York City, they have handles carved from 10,000-30,000-year-old Siberian woolly mammoth tusks. And for between $2,500 and $4,500, you can buy one to use at home.

The handle of every Mammoth Razor (blacksheepandprodigalsons.com) can be personalized with an engraved scrimshaw monogram, and has a small quartz lens in it. Hold the lens to the light and you see a tiny photograph inside  turn-of-the-century erotica comes as standard, but you can choose any photo you like. Each blade is vintage and restored to be shave-ready. You'll have to supply the steady hand.